Prospero Año Nuevo

I'm posting this early, but I'm not sure if I'll log back in between now and Tuesday. My New Year's plans are pretty dull; I'm working on New Year's Eve night, and I'm been working a pretty tough stretch since the day after Xmas, so I may welcome the new year by sleeping in. Basic family traditions apply: clean house and noodle dinner, greeting the new year at sunrise ... well, I can do that from bed this year, I'm just too pooped.

I found this song, "My Dear Acquaintance (Happy New Year)" by Regina Spektor on iTunes today and decided to share it. It's a lovely sentiment coupled with some interesting sound. It's a free download on iTunes, so try it and enjoy it for your New Year's fest.

My dear acquaintance, it's so good to know you
For strength of your hand
That is loving and giving
And a happy new year
With love overflowing
With joy in our hearts
For the blessed new year

Raise your glass and we'll have a cheer
For us all who are gathered here
And a happy new year to all that is living
To all that is gentle, kind, and forgiving
Raise your glass and we'll have a cheer
My dear acquaintance, a happy new year

All of those who are hither and yonder
With love in our hearts
We grow fonder and fonder
Hail to those who we hold so dear
And hail to those who are gathered here
And a happy new year to all that is living
To all that is gentle, young, and forgiving
Raise your glass and we'll have a cheer
My dear acquaintance, a happy new year
Happy new year

Best Xmas gift ever ...

Jesus Deluxe Action Figure:
I can't display it though, I think the cat might have too much fun with the loaves and fishes ...

The quest for perfect holiday gravy

I am a vegetarian ... kind of. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that I don't eat meat. No piggy, no cow, no sheep -- just no mammals in general. The only meat(s) that I eat is the occasional chicken nugget -- because by the time the chicken has been made into a nugget or strip it's practically not a chicken anymore (chik'n?) -- and fish, because fish is good for you. Mostly, I'm just too lazy to go entirely vegetarian. I live in a very meat-happy state, and if I didn't allow fish and a little chicken into my diet every now and then, I'd never get to eat out.

The holidays can be a bit tough for me because we spend it with family, who are all big meat eaters. Which is fine, of course. Even though someone shreds of meat get into almost everything, even the vegetables -- because that's the way we do things here round these parts -- I can eat around it. I make a really tasty vegetarian cornbread dressing and load up on the veggies.

But I have to admit, I'm a fan of gravy. I looooove gravy. So I've been on the prowl for a perfect vegetarian gravy recipe. I've tried about five different recipes and I keep coming up with the same damn problem -- lumps. Little dots of flour all through the bowl. Ugh. I usually use this great finely sifted flour called Wondra, which is nigh impossible to get lumps with, but I can't seem to find it anymore. So I've been using regular flour and I get lumps. Argh.

Finally, after finding a very tasty but very lump-inducing recipe, wondering what the hell I was doing wrong, I sat down and hunted down cooking tips on ye olde Internet to find out how to make lumpless gravy.

The secret -- roux. You mix the flour with the grease/oil first, before you add the liquid. And I knew that, because that's the way I always made gravy before I went vegetarian. All the vegetarian recipes add the flour last, which results in lumps. Silly vegetarians.

Merry Xmas again!

Christmas virgins

I finally saw The 40-Year-Old Virgin last night, on the USA Network's director's cut version, which features the most intelligent use of censoring I've ever seen. Anyway, this movie was WONDERFUL! I didn't see it initially because the ads kind of turned me off. I figured it would be full of poopy humor and sex jokes and mean silliness like when Steve Carrell gets his chest waxed. OK, so it had a lot of sex jokes, but it was hiLARious, especially the scene where Steve Carrell gets his chest waxed. We couldn't stop laughing. So, great movie. We also saw Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story this weekend, and it was awful, I loved it. There's a scene with the Beatles in India that was worth the 5 bucks we paid at the early cinema. Again, hilarious.

I'm finally comfortable with wishing people a Merry Christmas, something I've been holding off on until about two or three days ago. I just can't say "Merry Christmas" on the day after Thanksgiving. You know why -- it ain't Christmas! I'll start saying "Have a happy holiday" around the middle of December, especially if I don't know if I'll see someone by Christmas. Happy Holidays or Season's Greetings covers everything, not just Christmas, and since there are lots of holidays and holy days in December, I'm happy about saying it. But "Merry Christmas" -- it's not Christmas until it's Christmas. That's just me. So, Merry Christmas! I'm gonna go cook now.